USA Today: SCOTUS Ruling For Religious Freedom During COVID Is Mean, You Know

Let’s have a thought experiment: what if government was restricting reporters from going out and doing their jobs (not that most seem to do more than sit at their desks and read Twitter and left wing outlets) during COVID, sued, and SCOTUS said “yeah, Freedom of the Press.” Do you think Democrats like Obama veterans Laurence H. Tribe and Michael C. Dorf would decry the ruling? What if government was cracking down on protesters (real ones, not the ones burning down black areas) and SCOTUS said “there’s a Constitutional Right to protest? Would they applaud the ruling, or say it was dangerous during Bat Soup Virus?

To this Supreme Court, religious freedom trumps public health — even amid COVID-19 plague

Balancing public health against the right to free exercise of religion poses a difficult challenge amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, when cases from California and Nevada reached the Supreme Court earlier this year, the justices deferred to the judgment of their governors, who are, after all, accountable to the people.

They didn’t defer: the Progressives (nice Fascists) voted against the 1st Amendment

But those cases were decided by narrow 5-4 margins before Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September. The court changed its tune late Wednesday night, when her replacement — Amy Coney Barrett — and the four earlier dissenters formed a new 5-4 conservative majority that invalidated restrictions on worship services in hot zones designated by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Yeah, one who didn’t believe in the 1st Amendment was replaced by one who did

The ruling in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, brought by Catholic and Orthodox Jewish congregations, was especially notable because it was unnecessary. As Chief Justice John Roberts explained in his dissent, by the time the court ruled, the New York houses of worship were no longer “subject to any fixed numerical restrictions.”

Oh, it was necessary, to keep Government from attempting to do this again as COVID surges

Those comparisons are inapt. Government discriminates illicitly when it fails to treat like cases alike. One needn’t discount people’s spiritual needs to recognize that liquor stores, bike shops, groceries and pet shops differ from churches, synagogues and mosques with respect to public health. The risk of coronaviral spread is not merely a function of the number of people at a venue; it increases dramatically as they linger in a stationary position, especially when they speak or sing.

There’s no right to booze, bikes, and hamsters in the Constitution.

Moreover, the ruling’s majority didn’t appear to appreciate the challenge Cuomo faced. Any line the state draws in this realm is bound to be crude, but the alternatives are still worse: A blanket ban on all large gatherings with no exceptions whatsoever would be excessive; no restrictions on gatherings would have literally deadly consequences; highly specific determinations, focusing on, say, the duration or volume of songs, would entangle religious institutions with government.

And that’s why there is, specifically for this discussion, a right to practice religion without government interference, in both the federal and NY State constitutions. Because then there would always be “challenges” for which Government could do something negative to religion. If Cuomo was so concerned, perhaps he should have cracked down on all the protests, which he did not. You can’t support one Right without the other. Also, perhaps sticking sick people in nursing homes might not have been a good idea. Let’s skip to the end through their continuous whining and anti-Rights yammering

After introducing his foreign policy team last week, President-elect Joe Biden proclaimed that “America is back.” In important respects, that will be true come Jan. 20. But at the Supreme Court, America is increasingly unrecognizable. A court that affords no protection to unenumerated rights to bodily integrity and privacy, while simultaneously eroding the separation of church and state would look less like our familiar institution and more like the highest judicial authority of a place like Gilead — the theocratic and misogynist country in Margaret Atwood’s dystopian “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

So, the whole point of the screed is that the Supreme Court may very well rule on the side of the Constitution rather than Joe’s Modern Socialism. There is no separation of Church and State in the Constitution, and ruling that citizens and churches have Rights is exactly what the purpose of the Supreme Court is. To protect the Constitution and Citizens from the Legislative and Executive branches. And, if the Court is protecting Constitutional Rights, that’s dangerous for Joe Biden’s agenda? Think about that position.

Read: USA Today: SCOTUS Ruling For Religious Freedom During COVID Is Mean, You Know »

If All You See…

…is wine which will soon be grown in Norway due to climate change, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Weasel Zippers, with a post on North Korea executing people with COVID (no one tell Andrew Cuomo, giving him ideas).

It’s women in nature week.

Read: If All You See… »

Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Peter Dribben Patriotic Pinup

Happy Sunday! Another gorgeous day in America. The Sun is shining, the birds are singing, and it is almost December. This pinup is by Peter Dribben, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Climate Change Dispatch covers climate cultists filing yet more anti-energy suits in Maine
  2. Green Jihad notes heart attacks being counted as COVID deaths
  3. No Tricks Zone highlights how green energy is making Germany the most expensive in Europe
  4. American Greatness discusses Trump’s nationalism vs Biden’s empire
  5. Bustednuckles: got food?
  6. Cold Fury wonders about appeasement then and now
  7. DC Clothesline: As Food Lines Grow, Gov’t Gives $140M in COVID Relief to Child Traffickers, Murderers, Rapists
  8. Dissecting Leftism discusses the definitive case that Trump won
  9. Doug Ross @ Journal has your color coded sheet of Democrat vs Republican policy positions
  10. Free North Carolina has an interesting math problem with Pennsylvania mail ballots
  11. Geller Report News highlights an interesting lawsuit on ballot machine code, thanks to Green Party
  12. hogewash features Hubble and black holes
  13. lmao notes to never let a moose lick your car
  14. Jihad Watch discusses Iran’s top nuclear scientist being whacked
  15. And last, but not least, Legal Insurrection notes even more bad news for Queen Pelosi, re: House elections
  16. And one to grow on: This ain’t Hell…. thought that social workers were the answer. No?

As always, the full set of pinups can be seen in the Patriotic Pinup category, or over at my Gallery page (nope, that’s gone, the newest Apache killed access, and the program hasn’t been upgraded since 2014). While we are on pinups, since it is that time of year, have you gotten your “Pinups for Vets” calendar yet? And don’t forget to check out what I declare to be our War on Women Rule 5 and linky luv posts and things that interest me.

Don’t forget to check out all the other great material all the linked blogs have!

Anyone else have a link or hotty-fest going on? Let me know so I can add you to the list. And do you have a favorite blog you can recommend be added to the feedreader?

Read: Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup »

CNN: With A Supposed Biden Win, Things Are Totally Going To Get Better Or Something

See, here’s how it works for Democrats. When a Republican is president, everything is horrible and bad and Doomy and Democracy Is In Danger. Fascism and authoritarianism is right around the corner, if not happening right freaking now. The world hates the U.S. and so do the Democrats

When a Democrat is in office, everything is peachy keen, unicorns are flying around, everyone has sustainable, fair trade lollipops, the scent of roses is in the air, and the world loves the U.S. And Dems love the U.S.

Guess where we’re at now, per Frida Ghitis at CNN?

The reason we know it’s about to get better

Is it morning in America yet? Not quite. But there’s change in the air, and millions of Americans must surely be experiencing the unmistakable feeling that even if the worst is not over, it soon will be.

Optimism has long been one of the distinguishing features of the United States and its people. That sunny disposition clouded over for at least half the country after Donald Trump won the presidency four years ago. That era is now coming to an end, but not before converging with the most catastrophic public health crisis in a century.

Optimism from Democrats? Everything from them is about how horrible America is. Even Obama winning didn’t erase Dems telling us that America is racist and sexist and horrible.

Is it reasonable now for those of us who found the Trump presidency abhorrent to rekindle our optimism?

First, a confession: as much as I have written about the dangers posed by Trump, I spent the past four years telling my most pessimistic friends that I remained convinced American democracy, with its deep roots, would survive Trump’s onslaught. Another confession: I had more doubts than I let on.

What, exactly, did Trump due to harm “American democracy?” If results are to be believed, more people than ever voted in a general election. Who’s freedom was taken away? What freedom’s were taken away? Other than in areas mostly run by Democrats during COVID lockdowns, of course

Biden’s first cabinet choices bring qualified, decent, respected public servants back into government. After an administration that slammed America’s door to refugees, that separated migrant children from their parents and put them in cages, we will have a Department of Homeland Security, responsible for guarding the borders, led by a man who came to the United States as a refugee. Alejandro Mayorkas, a Cuban-born Jew, fled the communist dictatorship as an infant with his family. His mother’s family had fled the Holocaust.

Unity, folks! Forgetting that Obama built those cages. Who was VP then? Looks like Biden is just going to open the doors.

The President who became an idol to White supremacists, who found “very fine people on both sides” in clashes between protesters flashing Nazi salutes and chanting “Jews will not replace us” and those declaring that America stands against prejudice, is being succeeded by one who is bringing in capable public servants of all ethnicities and backgrounds into government. While Trump once made a cringeworthy spectacle of having his cabinet, one at a time, praise him on live television, Biden is nominating a director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, who announced to him and the world, that she will disagree with him and “speak truth to power.”

That fine people lie yet again.

After turning its back on much of the world and seeing America’s standing collapse, the Biden team is telling US allies, “America is back!”

See, only when a Democrat is president is America’s world standing great. Yeah, America is back to being squishy rather than America First. Jumping to the end

American democracy just survived what is arguably the most vicious attack it has ever faced. The American system held up. The American people, voters, patriotic public servants, made it happen. What could be a greater cause for optimism about the future?

Have you ever noticed that these screeds are always short on any actual evidence of Democracy In Peril, on what the system survived. Say, what does she mean by “patriotic public servants”? That they helped the cheat? But, hey, if Democrats want to be optimistic about higher taxes, higher cost of living, kowtowing to nations like China and Iran, government restricting their freedom and choice, well, they’re mentally deranged. And we know that they still hate America.

Read: CNN: With A Supposed Biden Win, Things Are Totally Going To Get Better Or Something »

Who’s Up For A 130 Mile Trip In An Electric Car That Takes 9 Hours?

The climate cultists at the UK Guardian try to put a rosy face on this, but, ‘taint working

‘Why did it take nine hours to go 130 miles in our new electric Porsche?’

A couple from Kent have described how it took them more than nine hours to drive 130 miles home from Bournemouth as they struggled to find a working charger capable of producing enough power to their electric car.

Linda Barnes and her husband had to visit six charging stations as one after another they were either out of order, already had a queue or were the slow, older versions that would never be able to provide a fast enough charge in the time.

While the couple seem to have been “incredibly unlucky”, according to the president of the AA, Edmund King, their case highlights some of the problems that need ironing out before electric car owners can rely on the UK’s charging infrastructure.

The couple, who love their new fully electric Porsche Taycan 4S, which has a range of about 250 miles, contacted the Guardian to describe how difficult it is to recharge a car away from home. Their journey would have taken two and a half hours in a conventional car, they say.

Must be nice. That car starts at $185,000. See, these very rich people don’t worry about giving up fossil fuels like the peons

“Electric vehicle consumers want more interoperability, more chargers, greater reliability and a contactless experience. To really help the revolution get to full power before 2030 we need a concerted effort from local authorities to take up the charging point grants – only one in six do, according to AA research, and for those premises providing chargers to ensure they work. Driving an electric vehicle is great fun and can save you money and save emissions. Let’s make sure the future network can help save range anxiety,” he says.

See, we need Government to really build all these charging stations and stuff, so the rich folks aren’t inconvenienced with their expensive toys

Read: Who’s Up For A 130 Mile Trip In An Electric Car That Takes 9 Hours? »

If All You See…

…is horrible almond milk which uses too much water which is bad for climate change, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is A View From The Beach, with a post wondering if the Kraken is floundering.

Doubleshot under the fold to clear the folder, check out Blazing Cat Fur, with a post on Macron being right about Islamism.

Read More »

Read: If All You See… »

Clapton, Van Morrison Team Up For Anti-Lockdown Anthem

The 60’s and 70’s big time rockers (well, Van was always more Jazz) remember the days growing up and advocating freedom

Music Legends Van Morrison and Eric Clapton Team for Anti-Lockdown Anthem ‘Stand and Deliver’

Rock music legends Van Morrison and Eric Clapton have teamed up for “Stand and Deliver,” a song that takes coronavirus lockdowns to task.

“There are many of us who support Van and his endeavors to save live music; he is an inspiration,” Clapton said according to Variety. “We must stand up and be counted because we need to find a way out of this mess. The alternative is not worth thinking about. Live music might never recover.”

Clapton also said that the end of live entertainment due to coronavirus lockdowns is “deeply upsetting.”

Proceeds for the track — set to be released on December 4 — will go to Morrison’s Lockdown Financial Hardship Fund, which works to lend financial assistance to musicians left struggling during the global pandemic and the mitigation lockdowns imposed across the world.

“It is heartbreaking to see so many talented musicians lack any meaningful support from the government, but we want to reassure them that we are working hard every day to lobby for the return of live music, and to save our industry,” Morrison added upon release of news of his Clapton collaboration.

Rock and roll and so much of the music industry used to be about rebellion, counter-culture, doing your own thing, government out of our bedrooms, “trust no one above 30”, “sex, drugs, rock and roll”. It wasn’t necessarily anti-government, just about freedom to do your thing. Rockers were livid over Al and Tipper Gore’s Senate hearings on rock lyrics. Folk rock was the first to take on the Vietnam war while JFK was still president. The Age of Aquarius, free love, No Nukes, etc and so on (I don’t want to dive into this rabbit hole, I’ll be here all day). Now? Music is taking the Government’s side so often, mostly those in “today’s hit music”, but, some in rock, hard rock, heavy metal, even punk and country. Of course, most of these “hit music” makers (songs written by committees of other people, music from computers, massive use of autotune) don’t worry about Government bothering them, because they say the Right Things and are rich. So, good for Clapton and Morrison to stand up

Morrison’s criticism of lockdowns has stirred controversy in certain circles, especially among government officials. The “Moondance” singer recently drew criticism from Northern Ireland’s health minister Robin Swann who called the protest songs “dangerous.”

“I don’t know where he gets his facts. I know where the emotions are on this,” Swann told BBC in September, “but I will say that sort of messaging is dangerous.” As Rolling Stone reported, Morrison has for decades voiced grievances through song, but “this time, Morrison’s preferred method of venting might also cause harm to others.”

Even during the Vietnam era and the era of Reagan’s big military buildup (meant to scare Russia and destroy it’s economy, not fight a war, especially with nukes), government didn’t try to shut music artists down. Of course, now they are worried about Wrongthink, and government must censor. Having a message is dangerous? Well, yes, to government figures using their power to control citizens. Freedom for the peons is dangerous to authoritarians.

Read: Clapton, Van Morrison Team Up For Anti-Lockdown Anthem »

Cult of Climastrology Looks To Go After Advertising Industry

Well, this is new. I haven’t seen the Cult of Climastrology go after advertising yet

Black Friday: How can the ad industry help tackle climate change?

(Thomson Reuters Foundation) - As shoppers scramble for deals on Black Friday, spurred on by frenzied marketing campaigns, critics have called on advertisers to consider how the industry impacts climate change and to shift to a greener model.

Environmentally conscious consumers worldwide are trying to limit the excesses of Black Friday, when people spend billions of dollars on retail goods, and push to make it more sustainable.

Using the hashtags #TurnBlackFridayGreen and #ReclaimBlackFriday on social media, individuals on Friday suggested people shun e-commerce giants like Amazon and buy locally.

Yet while the spotlight may be on retailers, big advertising firms have “largely escaped accountability” despite indirectly fuelling global warming, according to a report by the New Weather Institute think-tank and its partners.

What role does advertising play in the climate crisis and what is the industry doing to tackle the issue?

Obviously, the CoC is upset that Other People are seeing ads to buy things for themselves and as gifts for others, which is wasteful and Evil and stuff. You can read the rest of that Reuters article, let’s flip to the UK Guardian for a bit more honesty as to what this report and the CoC really want to do

Rein in advertising to help tackle climate crisis, report urges
Industry promotes materialism and lifts sales of climate-harming products, study says

Advertising needs to be controlled and changed to reduce its impact on the climate, according to a report released as consumers prepare to spend billions on Black Friday.

The report by the New Weather Institute thinktank and the charity We are Possible examines how advertising indirectly contributes to climate change and the ecological emergency.

Researchers say the promotion of consumerism, materialism and a work-and-spend cycle, and the industry’s role in pushing sales of beef, tobacco, high-polluting SUVs and flights, are all part of that indirect role.

The report says the advertising industry has so far escaped scrutiny about its role in contributing to climate change. Tim Kasser, an emeritus professor of psychology at Knox College in Illinois, who co-authored the report, said there was a body of evidence to show that in order to make progress in addressing and reversing climate and ecological degradation, it would be prudent to rein in and change the practices of the advertising industry.

Who would reign it in? Advertising won’t destroy their own industry, so, it would be up to government controlling the economy even more. What’s that called?

Read: Cult of Climastrology Looks To Go After Advertising Industry »

NY Times: People’s Hatred Of Trump Failed To Help Down-ballot Votes, Seeing Crushing Losses For Dems

This is yet another case of putting opinion in straight news, another case of the Credentialed Media trying to explain things, and another case of the Credentialed Media attempting to protect Democrats. This article is not in the opinion section

How Democrats Suffered Crushing Down-Ballot Losses Across America
In statehouse races, suburban voters’ disgust with President Trump failed to translate into a rebuke of other Republicans, ensuring the party’s grip on partisan mapmaking.

Sore LosersJust a few seats shy of a majority in the State House of Representatives, Democrats in Pennsylvania this year zeroed in on Republican-held suburban districts, where disdain for President Trump ran hot.

One of their prime targets was in the North Hills suburbs outside Pittsburgh, which are home to big brick houses, excellent public schools and “the fastest-trending Democratic district in the state,” according to Emily Skopov, the Democratic nominee for an open seat there, who gamely knocked on the doors of Republican voters in the days before Nov. 3.

She was half right. Joseph R. Biden Jr. carried Pennsylvania’s House District 28, after Mr. Trump had won it by nine percentage points in 2016.

But Ms. Skopov, the founder of a nonprofit group who positioned herself as a moderate, was defeated.

Across the country, suburban voters’ disgust with Mr. Trump — the key to Mr. Biden’s election — did not translate into a wide rebuke of other Republicans, as Democrats had expected after the party made significant gains in suburban areas in the 2018 midterm elections. From the top of the party down to the state level, Democratic officials are awakening to the reality that voters may have delivered a one-time verdict on Mr. Trump that does not equal ongoing support for center-left policies.

“There’s a significant difference between a referendum on a clown show, which is what we had at the top of the ticket, and embracing the values of the Democratic ticket,” said Nichole Remmert, Ms. Skopov’s campaign manager. “People bought into Joe Biden to stop the insanity in the White House. They did not suddenly become Democrats.”

Or, bear with me here, could it possibly be that there was, in fact, lots of cheating that led to Trump losing the general election? Across the country, there percent that voted president only is way, way, way higher than normal. The amount of disqualified mail-in votes is way, way lower than normal. Plus lots and lots of other irregularities. Maybe it all ads up to nothing. Maybe it doesn’t. Does anyone truly believe Joe freaking Biden received 80 million votes for real?

That dawning truth is evident in the narrower majority that House Democrats will hold in Congress next year, and especially in the blood bath that the party suffered in legislative races in key states around the country, despite directing hundreds of millions of dollars and deploying top party figures like former President Barack Obama to obscure down-ballot elections.

This year, Democrats targeted a dozen state legislative chambers where Republicans held tenuous majorities, including in Pennsylvania, Texas, Arizona, North Carolina and Minnesota. Their goal was to check the power of Republicans to redraw congressional and legislative districts in 2021, and to curb the rightward drift of policies from abortion to gun safety to voting rights.

But in all cases, Democrats came up short. None of their targeted legislative chambers flipped, even though Mr. Biden carried many of the districts that down-ballot Democrats did not. It could make it harder for Democrats to retain a House majority in 2022.

Could it be that voters want Trumpism without Trump, as Ann Coulter rather unhingededly put it (nope, not linking her screed)?  Or, could it be cheating?

In the aftermath, moderate Democrats are feuding with progressives over whether policies that excite the party’s base, such as higher taxes to pay for social programs, policing overhauls and a rapid move away from fossil fuels, are a losing message with swing voters. Progressives have responded that moderate candidates aren’t offering voters an affirmative program to improve their lives.

Could it be that people don’t actually want Government in charge of their lives, that they do not want higher taxes, that they do not want Government taking away their use of reliable, affordable, easy to obtain fossil fuels? That people actually prefer the Trump message of reducing government’s role in our lives? Could it be that citizens held their noses about the “clown show”, and actually voted for Trump and Democrats cheated?

“One of the big questions is whether a Trumpist 2024 candidate can be a little bit milder so as to not alienate the suburbs, yet still inspire the low-propensity Republicans to vote at 2020 levels,” said J.J. Balaban, a Democratic strategist in Pennsylvania. “If they can pull that off, it’s going to be a very hard environment for Democrats.”

There’s that. Also, how extreme will the Democrats be over the next two years, leading to more House and Senate and down ballot losses in 2022.

Democrats’ failure to flip any of their targeted chambers means that Republicans will have control next year of 20 state governments that will collectively draw 188 congressional districts, according to one analysis. In a bright spot for Democrats, the party is closing in on a supermajority in the New York Senate. That outcome would help give Democrats control of mapmaking in states with a total of 73 House districts.

Bummer, Dems!

Read: NY Times: People’s Hatred Of Trump Failed To Help Down-ballot Votes, Seeing Crushing Losses For Dems »

Good News: Climate Apocalypse (scam) Causing Warmists To Not Have Kids

I think this is a wonderful idea. All climate cultists should follow this, thereby eliminating them from the gene pool. They won’t have mushy little heads to indoctrinate

Climate ‘apocalypse’ fears stopping people having children – study

People worried about the climate crisis are deciding not to have children because of fears that their offspring would have to struggle through a climate apocalypse, according to the first academic study of the issue.

The researchers surveyed 600 people aged 27 to 45 who were already factoring climate concerns into their reproductive choices and found 96% were very or extremely concerned about the wellbeing of their potential future children in a climate-changed world. One 27-year-old woman said: “I feel like I can’t in good conscience bring a child into this world and force them to try and survive what may be apocalyptic conditions.”

These views were based on very pessimistic assessments of the impact of global heating on the world, the researchers said. One respondent, for example, said it would “rival world war one in its sheer terror”. The research also found that some people who were already parents expressed regret over having their children.

The study, published in the journal Climatic Change, found no statistically significant difference between the views of women and men, though women made up three-quarters of respondents. A 31-year-old woman said: “Climate change is the sole factor for me in deciding not to have biological children. I don’t want to birth children into a dying world [though] I dearly want to be a mother.”

One 42-year-old father wrote that the world in 2050 would be “a hot-house hell, with wars over limited resources, collapsing civilisation, failing agriculture, rising seas, melting glaciers, starvation, droughts, floods, mudslides and widespread devastation.” Schneider-Mayerson said he thought the pessimistic views held were all within the range of possibilities, if not necessarily the most likely outcome.

The researchers found that 6% of parents confessed to feeling some remorse about having children. A 40-year-old mother said: “I regret having my kids because I am terrified that they will be facing the end of the world due to climate change.”

These rugrats won’t be too totally f*cked up due the mother’s climamoonbattery, eh?

Read: Good News: Climate Apocalypse (scam) Causing Warmists To Not Have Kids »

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